The Fugitives Trail

LAFE COLEMAN (30s) and his gang approach three men asleep under blankets around a flickering campfire. He motions them to stop, and with a slight hint of a nod, they fire! The bodies convulse from the impact. Lafe uncovers them, but Quinn, their leader, is not there. At daylight, QUINN (40s), and the rest of his gang come upon the murdered men. His brother, mortally wounded, lives long enough to identify the killers. Quinn takes his brother home for burial before setting off to hunt them down.

MARSHAL RANCE CRAWFORD (50s), tough, no-nonsense, unemotional, rides at a leisurely pace as he takes a drink from his canteen. His black coat hides the badge on his vest. He sees a small wagon pulled by a single horse ahead. A sign dangles from both sides that reads “DR. WHITNEY’S WINE OF LIFE.” Driving the wagon is DOCTOR WHITNEY (70s), a colorful cigar-smoking gentleman in a beaver top hat and well-worn suit. Whitney tags along with Crawford, at least until the next town. On the trail they are joined by Deputy TRAVIS CLARK (20), who brings news that the Coleman Gang robbed a stagecoach, a bank, and were last seen headed towards the Owl Creek Mountains and Sioux Territory. When a wagon wheel breaks, Whitney must ride his horse. Soon he is separated from the Marshal, and finds himself with the Quinn Gang, who force him to ride with them. Quinn gathers from the talkative Dr. Whitney that Marshal Crawford is in pursuit of the Coleman Gang as well.

Crawford soon engages Lafe Coleman in a shootout and takes him and the surviving gang members prisoner – watched from a distance by a Sioux war party. Crawford sets up camp for the night behind a rock formation with Travis as lookout. Amid the sound of faint war drums, Crawford gets to know Lafe better, and how he turned outlaw over a boundary dispute with Quinn. A shot RINGS out! Travis is hit in the arm. Forced to trust Lafe and his men, Crawford frees them of their handcuffs, and they open fire on the warriors. When Quinn arrives with his gang, Whitney manages to escape in the melee of bullets and arrows to rejoin Crawford. At last, the warriors withdraw, and Quinn and his men are defeated. Lafe is the only one of his gang to survive. Crawford puts the cuffs on him but doesn’t lock them.

The next morning, Lafe is gone. Travis wants to know how he escaped. Crawford “doesn’t know,” and says, “I’ll find out when I catch him.” Travis worries that with a good head start, Lafe could reach the border by sundown. Crawford, with a slight smile replies, “Wouldn’t that be the luck?”